This is Our Song
by puffabilly
Summary: Thor and Jane are finally getting married. And perhaps love is in the air for bridesmaid Darcy and a wedding guest who goes by the name Hawkeye.
1. Chapter 1

_This is Our Song_

_Part One_

If Jane tried breathing any deeper, there was a danger her silk covered buttons would pop. In and out... in and out. The steel boned corset with ivory lace overlay was beautiful. The veil and rusting skirt was beautiful. And after having peeking quickly out of the bridal waiting room, Darcy knew the private garden in a private (and remote) Stark estate was beautiful. However the bride was about to marry a god. Darcy couldn't blame her for being a little nervous.

A wedding planner had been out of the question. Trying to combine the traditions of both human and Asgardian weddings was a challenge, true, but it turned out to be even harder to find a planner that SHIELD was willing to provide a security clearance for. With her degree finished, Darcy Lewis didn't need to spend time with Jane for extra credit. But after experiencing all the wonders and horror that had come through the "Einstein-Rosen bridge" those few summers ago... a girl couldn't stand with her friend to fight an invading evil mecha machine and then abandon her when it came time to negotiate seating arrangements with godly future in-laws.

The curtains of the waiting room snapped open. Darcy barely took a step, ready to brandish her bridesmaid's bouquet if Thor had ignored the rule about seeing the bride... but it was simply Natasha.

"I've swept the perimeter again. No Kree, no Skrulls and no paparazzi. You're ready to go," Natasha didn't need to even need look to know where her white flowered bouquet was sitting and her carefully curled hair wasn't an inch out of place despite that last reconnaissance trip having taken at least eight minutes. Not that Darcy had counted. A surreptitious check – yup, the dress Black Widow wore was identical to Darcy's in dark cinnamon hue but still not a hint of a wrinkle. More of a beanie-and-comfortable-sweater girl, Darcy had barely moved for the past hour rather than risk ruining her own carefully applied makeup. But then again, Jane hadn't moved either. And possible wasn't going to.

"Pssst," Darcy whispered, beckoning to Natasha. The Black Widow raised an eyebrow but came to where Darcy stood a few feet behind Jane. "I think this might be a pretty major case of stage fright," said Darcy, gesturing again with her bouquet towards the bride who still seemed oblivious to anything but her breathing.

Natasha said nothing. But Darcy had met her fellow bridesmaid enough times to know the look the spy had when she was making an assessment. That look had come up often during the discussions about what the two bridesmaids would be wearing. Still, Darcy had almost begun to chew on her lip in fear of having to tell Thor that his wife would be delayed, when Natasha seemed to make her decision. Lifting her hand to touch the near invisible com piece in her ear, Natasha relayed the command to start the music. And as if by magic, as the first few chords of the bridal walk played, Jane came to. Flustered for barely a second, she soon turned to her bridesmaids and broke out into a happy grin.

"Ready?"

Natasha and Darcy just returned the smile and took their places a few steps in front of the bride. Almost invisible attendants drew back the curtain and the ceremony finally began.

* * *

Darcy was being spun around the dance floor by an Asgardian who'd been introduced to her as Fandral. She laughed as the admittedly dashing alien cupped her bare back and dipped her low. After a few hours of celebration that was becoming more Asgardian by the minute, especially with Tony Stark putting on an open bar, Darcy's hair-porn hairdo was more than little unravelled with curls now dangling towards the floor. She was almost forced to grip the neckline of her dress to keep her modesty, but Fandral swept her up just in time to lead her out into a graceful twirl. Upright again, Darcy glimpsed a room of Avengers and Gods performing a variety of moves before she was guided back into her dance partner's arms. However Fandral kept her at a respectful distance. Darcy was about to check her long lasting deodorant hadn't been a false advertising promise before she flashed back to a half hour earlier, when Fandral had tried to be a little too Patrick Swayze a la Dirty Dancing with one of the SHIELD agents.

"I promise, that's not what all Earth females do to their dance partners," Darcy said, hopefully loud enough to be heard over the music. She realised she'd taken another mental shortcut when starting a conversation. It was a bad habit, even though most of her friends had been trained to just follow along. Maybe Fandral had been prepped by his king already about Lady Darcy, but either way, he simply smiled and any further comment he was about to make was silenced by the screech of a mike.

Dr Selving stood upon a small stage, clearing his throat before reaching for the microphone again. "Ahem... guests... if you please, the wedding speeches are about to begin."

_Second load of wedding speeches. _Darcy mentally added. There had been the traditional round of thank yous and letters from the guests who couldn't make it during the dinner. However that was apparently human tradition. Asgardians found that a few hours of drinking first made the wedding speeches much livelier. Jane and the other human members of the bridal party had been warned this part of the night could get very very _very_ lively. Darcy's dance partner seemed quite keen to join the crowd gathering around the stage, though he did pause to lay a parting kiss on the back of Darcy's hand first. Darcy responded with a curtsey, even if her lips were struggling to stay in a graceful smile rather than snarky smirk. And as the dancing music faded, she realised that her feet definitely wanted to be freed from her very pretty but slightly pinching shoes. Glancing around, Darcy realised she was rapidly becoming the last person on the dance floor. With a shrug to herself, she kicked off one shoe than the other. Picking them up by the heels, Darcy made her way to the semi-filled dining tables where other guests (with the numbers leaning slightly towards those of the mortal incarnation) were taking their own breather.

A cheer suddenly same from the stage, where the Asgardians and more boisterous (or brave) humans seemed to have rapidly acquired many mugs. Apparently the speeches were to be accompanied by much toasting and drinking of ale. Ale of which Darcy had taken a sip earlier this even and was most definitely _not_ made for human blood alcohol levels. _Maybe a table just a little bit towards the back _thought Darcy. She smiled and nodded towards a couple of guests at the tables she passed. Pepper returned the gesture with a wave of her free hand – the other hand occupied with stroking the back of Tony's head while he seemed to be contemplating joining the festivities at the stage. Captain America..._ahem..._ Steve, Darcy mentally corrected herself, was still in his groomsman suit and appeared deep in conversation with a couple of college friends of Jane. Both female and both seemed to be hanging on every word. Steve appeared almost oblivious to each flick of hair and other preening gesture and it took a lot of restraint on Darcy's part not to head straight for that table and start drawing diagrams to explain flirting cues in the twenty first century.

For a moment Darcy considered joining Natasha, but she had taken a seat next to a slightly ruffled curly haired man at an otherwise empty table and Darcy felt best to err on the side of caution rather than intrude. After a moment's thought, she did place the face of the man – Dr Bruce Banner. She had met him previously in the lead up to the wedding, though apparently some hesitation about being too close to the centre of attention had meant the Doctor had declined the invite to be part of the actual wedding party. Super heroes could have a modest streak, as Darcy had learned.

Finally, Darcy settled on the furthest table from the stage. Asgardians apparently got very loud very quickly and apparently broke out into traditional song equally as quickly as part of their 'speeches'. 30 Seconds to Mars, they definitely weren't. The table wasn't empty – a man had balanced himself upon the back of one of the chairs, his feet upon the seat and elbows resting upon his knees. But Darcy's blisters were refusing to walk any further so he would have to put up with her company, whether he liked it or not. She flopped into a padded seat, kicking up her feet to rest upon the linen covered table and folding her arms behind her head. Her table companion gave her a brief look, his eyes flickering downwards for just a moment before swinging back to surveying the crowd.

_Hold on, did he just check me out...?_ Darcy lowered her chin, trying to see just how much her dancing had displaced her admittedly snug-to-start-with dress.

"They're fine. I was just admiring the view for a moment," the man said in a fairly laconic drawl. The words would've sounded like pure sleaze coming from anyone else but Darcy could only take it as a somewhat matter of fact statement. But her gaze was now fixed on the man. She's had many years of covering the girls up with loose shirts... try being taken seriously in political science otherwise... but she'd also learnt that if a guy was going to be a letch, make them back down first. But the full powered Darcy 'just-come-try-it' stare had no effect. At most the man just seemed to be repressing a slightly amused twitch of his lip. After a few moments, Darcy mentally categorised him into the 'no danger' category and relaxed back into her seat.

"Not going to join in the tributes to Thor and the well wishing that he may breed many strong and virile offspring," Darcy asked with a nod towards the crowd. The man just chuckled and shook his head in response. Another moment passed. Awkward silence, not really Darcy's style. "Have you tried the drink they brought over here? Seriously, for a bunch of pseudo-Nordic gods, they're kind of weak with the booze, if you know what I mean?"

Darcy could've kept going for awhile, but it seemed the threat of a rambling conversation was enough to divert her companion's attention back to her. Actually, it was enough to make the man turn to face Darcy and lean down a few inches to bring him closer to her eye level. "Really? Seemed like those three sips you took a little over two hours ago were enough to make you want to teach the former king of Asgard how to do the Macarena," he commented with deadpan delivery.

"The Macarena is an iconic part of our national history and as the alternatives include both the chicken dance and the Nutbush, I simply picked a cultural tradition to impart on our guests that is both multi-national and relatively simple to learn in an inebriated environment like this." Other thing Darcy learned in Political Science – making BS up on the spot. The look she got in response was eerily similar to how Natasha's face went when Jane has suggested taffeta frills on the bridesmaids dress. However Darcy took the moment of silence as grudging respect, at a minimum. She unfolded her arms and extended a hand across the table. "Darcy Lewis."

The man simply nodded, taking Darcy's hand in a brief shake. "I know. Clint. Or Hawkeye according to the seating plan."

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

_This is Our Song_

_Part Two_

"Ah, yes. Hawkeye. Table eight, sitting between Director Fury and Doctor Banner." Not that Darcy couldn't have guessed. The warm hand she'd just shaken felt like it was made up of a million tiny calluses and it wasn't as if there were a horde of archers in The Avengers. "Just don't tell the director that I skipped the mundane names on the place cards. It's not going to be every wedding that I get to use my epic calligraphy skills to write out things like 'Captain America' and 'Black Widow'."

Clint lifted his hand in a mock salute. "As the bridesmaid requests."

"Good. Glad we've established the chain of command so easily," Darcy replied, folding her arms under her chest and giving an approving nod. A nod which was also a careful cover so she could give Hawkeye another look over_. When did a handshake become sexy_? flickered through her mind as Darcy took in the broad shoulders, arms that seemed ready to test the durability of his jacket's seams and... Darcy gave her head a shake. _Bad Darcy_, she admonished herself. _Don't be the bridesmaid that gets caught having sex in the laundry room._

If Clint had noticed Darcy eyeing him up, he seemed particularly unbothered. He'd returned to surveying the room, his gaze making regular sweeps back and forth. Darcy forced herself to avoid being a drooling Avengers fangirl and shifted in her seat to see how the rest of the party was faring. As if on cue, a well-dressed waiter glided by with a tray of champagne and Darcy was quick to snag a flute. Of course, Clint passed with a short shake of his head, not even pausing a moment to see what was on offer. Taking a sip of what she assumed to be very expensive alcohol, Darcy waved her free hand wildly until the waiter brought the tray back. Plucking up another thin stemmed glass and getting to her feet, Darcy leaned precariously across the table and placed the champagne firmly in front of Clint.

"It's a wedding. A wedding with probably the entire National Guard plus every able bodied man from Blackwater working security. I know this cool, calm and focused thing is probably your default setting, but you are actually allowed to relax and have some fun." When Clint didn't take the champagne, Darcy nudged the glass a couple of inches closer with her fingertip. "C'mon... if I drink alone, I'll be borderline alcoholic."

That did at least raise a smile. "I'm not a big drinker."

Darcy frowned up at him before taking back his full glass. She looked at it, then back at her own. Placing her drink back on the table, Darcy waited for the bubbles to settle before lifting Clint's untouched flute and very, very carefully she began to pour his champagne into her own. When her glass was about to overflow, she tipped his glass back upright and made a slight show of checking the amount of sparking champagne remaining. Nodding to herself in approval, she leaned over once more and positioned the now half-empty glass firmly on the table directly in front of Clint. "There," she said cheerfully. "Now you don't have a big drink to worry about."

Clint stared at his drink and then at Darcy, who eyed him back with her own implacable-steel-face expression. He slowly picked it up and inclined it forwards in preparation for a toast. Holding the champagne flute perfectly steady, he waited while Darcy hurriedly sipped her own near-overflowing drink until she was able to lift it and clink the glass against his.

"To the happy couple," said Clint, before withdrawing his champagne and knocking it back in one gulp.

"To the happy couple," Darcy echoed, lowering herself again into the chair and indulging just the briefest of smug smiles. Seriously, she wanted to ply the guy with booze all night just to see the ripple of muscles moving under his jacket when he lifted a glass. And not like he wasn't getting the absolute best view of her cleavage each time she bent herself across that big old table. About to gesture for another waiter, her Machiavellian plans were interrupted when Pepper and Tony, hand in hand, approached the table.

"Mind if we join you?" asked Pepper graciously. Tony however had launched himself in a chair next to Darcy and wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulder in greeting before Pepper had even finished her sentence.

"Of course they don't mind. And if they do... well, wedding rest breaks need to be carefully timed otherwise the party spirit might depart and neither of these guys wants to be the first to call it a night. Right Miss Lewis?"

"Damn right Mr Stark. I do have a reputation to maintain," Darcy retorted back. She fell easily into the casual banter they'd established during the several visits to the Stark estate while wedding plans and diagrams were being mapped out. Though with his arm still draped around her, she could only assume the alcohol was encouraging Iron Man to be a little more affectionate than usual. Pepper didn't seem to mind, taking her own seat on the other side of Tony and spending a few moments to compliment Darcy on how beautiful she looked and how lovely the wedding was. Tony indulged Pepper her girlie talk for about ninety seconds before setting his attention on Clint.

"Hawk, get down off your perch and come be sociable on the fun side of the table." To emphasise his point, Tony slung his arms around Darcy and Pepper's waists and drew them both to his sides. "Or don't. More pretty girls for me then." Darcy didn't need to look to know Tony had his showman smile plastered on his face. Still wasn't sure when they'd become public-hugging type friends... but Tony's hand was firmly placed in a non-erogenous spot somewhere near her kidney so she was happy enough to play along.

"I think what Tony meant to say," Pepper added, having smoothly moved herself into a more dignified position, "was that we were incredibly rude leaving you sitting on your own." She gestured towards the empty chair next to Darcy. "Please come join us." Somewhere in her brain, Darcy registered that the wonderful Pepper was encouraging Clint to come nudge the edge of her personal space. The rest of Darcy's brain was unfortunately also momentarily distracted by a comment Tony has whispered into her ear, though Pepper didn't miss the slight twitch of Clint's jaw when Darcy burst into giggles at whatever Stark had said.

"That... sure. Thank you," said Clint before he uncurled himself from the chair with a grace that snapped Darcy's focus back in that direction. It was only a few steps and he was suddenly sitting beside her, but she'd tracked his every movement with almost dizzying attention. It was like seeing the genetically engineered love child of a dancer from So You Think You Can Dance and one of those ripped MMA fighter. Darcy was able to enjoy eye candy with the best of them but this... Tony had already disengaged his casual hug and Darcy was making silent prayers to any higher being paying attention for that calloused archer's hand to make it's way onto her waist... or thigh... or anywhere with nerve endings. Instead she was left with a slight stab of disappointment when Clint folded his arms firmly over his chest.

_Laundry. Sex. Skanky bridesmaid. Oh my god Darcy, stop drooling over the poor guy. _ Mental self-slapping over.

"Soooooo," started Darcy. "I hear there's going to be a limited edition Avengers iPod range? True or false?" Completely untrue, she already knew... even if it was a good idea. But it started the conversation and soon there was a plan for Stark industries to design its own music player with exclusive Avengers merchandising rights. Clint interjected when Darcy tried to come up with a colour theme to distinguish the Hawkeye model and succinctly nixed any use of purple or its variants. Darcy tried to argue that violet highlights would not make the music coming out any less manly but when Clint asked Tony if Black Sabbath ever had 'purple highlights' on their album covers, Darcy found Tony suddenly on the opposite side of her argument. But the next few minutes spent forcing Tony to justify his love of 80s metal made up for it until Pepper decided to rescue her boyfriend and start drawing Clint out on his taste in music. When Darcy learnt that Clint hadn't even gotten his own iTunes account, she couldn't believe anyone was living in such a deprived state of existence and immediately started mentally planning her next download session around creating a playlist for him.

Her internal musing about the best song for track 18 was derailed when Clint and Tony simultaneously stopped mid conversation. It was only when both men tapped their ears that Darcy noticed they wore the same camouflaged earpieces Natasha had on earlier. Obviously, none of the Avengers, apart from Thor, had completely turned off work mode for this wedding. Pepper had a look of concern that Darcy figured mirrored her own expression, though Darcy knew she was fidgeting a lot more at Tony's sharp responses of "How many?"- "Location"- "No, we'll handle it. Just get on the wire if the 100 yard perimeter is breached." And with a swift tap, Tony deactivated the voice transmitter on his earpiece. He was reaching for a top up of champagne when Pepper moved the glass out of his reach. "Oh, that?" Tony shrugged and diverted his nimble fingers to grasp the bottle of whiskey a waiter had been ordered to deposit shortly before. "Guards picked up a breach. JARVIS is fairly sure it's just some lone paparazzi who thinks sneaking into a god's wedding is a good idea. But since none of us would be shocked if Loki had actually found a way to disrupt his brother's wedding, I thought it best if one of us hardier types went and checked it out."

Pepper deftly moved to stopper the top of the whiskey bottle with her palm before Tony could take a swig. "And you said you were going to take care of it..?" her voice trailed off, even as one of her eyebrow rose expectantly.

"Actually, no. I said we. Which really meant them," Tony jerked his head towards Darcy and Clint before laying a kiss on the back of Pepper's hand. Which didn't dislodge her palm from the whiskey but she did compromise and slide the champagne back across the table to him.

"Us?" Darcy's voice held firm, though she knew a stammer had been threatening to break through. It was late, she was a little buzzed on champagne and while tracking down a faux-tographer didn't faze her so much, the prospect of running into Loki or one of his minions was maybe just a tiny bit nerve wracking. Or maybe it was the sudden possibility of being in the vast Stark gardens with just Clint that was causing the sudden churning in her stomach. _Fear... lust... sometimes a little hard to distinguish between._

Clint however didn't hesitate. With barely any exertion, he reached beneath the linen tablecloth and drew out his black compressed bow and a quiver of arrows. Shrugging out of his jacket, Clint slung the quiver over his left shoulder and stood in one fluid motion. "I'll go solo. If there's a chance it's something hostile out there, we shouldn't take unnecessary risks." He avoided looking at Darcy directly, who wasn't sure if she was thrilled about his concern or offended that she was being labelled as 'unnecessary'.

Busy working his kisses up Pepper's arm in apparently pursuit of the whiskey's release, Tony paused at Clint's comments. "You're a big boy Barton. I'm sure you can defeat the bad guy and keep Miss Lewis safe at the same time. I'm actually more worried it is just some remarkably dumb TMZ wannabe that inevitably would be dumb enough to try something with you and the time-consuming lawsuit that happens after. At least if Miss Lewis is along, we'll have a witness that can swear the camera impaled itself on the arrow."

There was a slight pause while Clint was drawing his breath to argue. In that briefest of moments, Darcy took in the clenching of his fingers around the hard bow, the tense set of his jaw and the slight crease in his brow while he clearly got ready to deliver another reason that she should stay here in safety. And suddenly, he was suddenly just a soldier, about to leave the party to go waste time chasing down some random tabloid douchebag. Darcy pictured Clint sitting alone on his chair before she'd joined him and with that image in mind, she knew more than anything she didn't want him to spend any second tonight stuck on his lonesome. So she stood up, stopping Clint from whatever he was about to say.

"Well, then... let's get this ninja squad on the road." Darcy straightened her spine and placed her hands on her hips, figuring a hero pose would help divert any further arguments. There was at least a few seconds of drawn out silence while Darcy, Tony and Pepper's focus was entirely on Clint, waiting for his response.

Clint simply propped his bow against the table, reached for his jacket and held it open towards Darcy. "In case you get cold. Or need something with some Kevlar lining." As Darcy was beginning to learn was normal, his tone gave nothing away on his current emotional state, so she wasn't entirely sure how thrilled or not-thrilled he was about her volunteering to tag along. _But he didn't say no outright... good sign?_ Slightly self-conscious, she rotated one arm and then another into the still-warm sleeves of Clint's wedding jacket but before the weight of the garment had settled onto her shoulders, Darcy felt the lightest of touches brush her skin as Clint carefully lifted her errant curls of hair off her neck. When the jacket was in place, he lowered his hand to drape the dark locks gently over the collar. Poker face still on, Clint retrieved his bow, giving Darcy's heart a chance to recover from the several beats it had just skipped.

"Don't worry," said Tony, blithely interrupting the moment. "We'll hold the fort here."

"Good luck," added Pepper. Darcy could only nod as she slipped her feet back into her pretty-but-pinch-y shoes, Clint waiting calmly by her side. After Darcy was ready, Clint extended the bow with one flick of his wrist before he guided them away from Pepper, Tony and the wedding celebrations towards the vast forest estate in search of the impolite party crasher... who really did have no idea just what was about to hit him.


	3. Chapter 3

After the bright summer day, the night had brought a cool breeze which swept through the Stark estate; it tugged at Darcy's dress and forced her to draw Clint's jacket tighter to warm her body. Not that she really minded, as the coat ran long in the sleeves and draped to her knuckles, just how she liked it. And whatever cologne he'd put on for the wedding was fantastic... hints of the very masculine and complex scent lingered on the jacket and Darcy kept catching the fragrance in soft bursts on the breeze. It was distracting in its total and utter sexiness and Darcy had to force herself to focus on their surroundings.

The Stark estate was ringed by a broad stretch of forest. It was pretty, even in the middle of the night. The whole thing was manmade around stretches of dusty paths that were lighted every several feet by short, narrow post lamps. The pines and oaks sat in tidy, ordered lines and were widely spaced enough to give an unobstructed view into the darker stretches of brush that spread away from the path. Jane has commented on the design when Pepper gave her and Darcy a tour several months ago; Pepper had confirmed Darcy's suspicion that the estate had been planned by Tony Stark's father long ago. It was just too organised for the younger Stark to have been invested in. Though admittedly, the sheer size of the place was easily Tony's style. But really, whoever decided to spread the forest over several square miles was a pain in Darcy's butt. Yes, she had great company but they'd been walking for thirty minutes and still had yet to find the intruder.

A motion to her right made Darcy swing around, iPhone and its nifty flashlight application at the ready. But again, it was just some cute but stupid deer being startled by the two humans intruding on its evening wanderings. Clint didn't even twitch a finger towards his arrows, making the assessment far quicker than Darcy. _Hey... master archer aside, he's also not stuck with itchy contact lenses slowing him down_. It was dumb, but also made Darcy feel a little better as she huffed and stuck her phone back into the jacket pocket.

Clint touched Darcy on the shoulder, stopping them both as he tapped his earpiece. "No, still nothing. Any luck narrowing down the trespasser." Darcy looked up at him hopefully as Clint listened to the update, though with a brief shake of his head Darcy knew before he tapped off that they were still needle-it-in-the-haystack'ing it. "Sorry. They still can't give us anything."

"I'm all for wildlife conservation," muttered Darcy. "But not if it means that Bambi and his friends and their heat signatures are going to keep covering for this wedding crasher."

"We'll find him," Clint nodded to the path and they began walking again. "And after, I'll take you out for venison steak." Darcy laughed. Turned out Clint did have a sense of humour carefully hidden beneath his calm facade. Sure, joking about eating Bambi was a little dark. But all Darcy really cared about was that for the past half hour, every throwaway comment or random musing that had crossed her mind and spilled from her mouth... Clint bounced something back at her. A deadpan joke or even just leading questions to give Darcy a chance to clarify whatever random comment she'd just made.

And the guy's ripped muscle definition aside, the fact that he listened to Darcy, even while part of his attention was focused on the mission... that was giving her stomach some major butterflies. Darcy knew people sometimes took awhile to get past her snark and infrequent brain filter. But Clint didn't just take her in his stride; he took her seriously from the outset. When they'd started this search, Darcy had question after question. She'd started with: "Could they do a citizen's arrest on the guy?"; "Did they have to be nice to important paparazzi like TMZ?"; "Would he let her try out his bow and arrow?" Without missing a beat, his answers had been "No"; "Only if they brought a wedding gift" and "Not in that dress. Ask me again later."

And while it was a little dark and Darcy's contact lenses had been in longer than she was used, she was positive that last comment had been accompanied by a swift, if intense, eyeballing that moved up from the curve of her hips to her ample chest. But his stare had finished at her face and when she caught his eye, the corners of his mouth were turned up in an appreciative smile. He winked before resuming his scan of their surroundings.

If asked later, Darcy would have denied that she had been distracted by that smile. Or that she'd been getting on own ogling in. She's have sworn black and blue that what really happened was the hole in the path appeared out of nowhere and literally leapt up and grabbed at her feet with its nasty, gritty path-type teeth. Whatever the cause, the tip of Darcy's multi-inch right heel got stuck and with a sharp snap, the heel broke from the shoe and Darcy stumbled; her foot slipping out from under her and the rest of her body twisting violently backwards.

And then, Clint was there to steady her. He moved so quickly, it took a moment for Darcy's startled brain to catch up. And then he was just so... _there_. He'd caught her from behind and with creeping clarity, Darcy noticed he'd angled her back against his side, taking her weight against his chest and thigh. Her arms had been caught beneath his when his hands had moved to catch her hips, keeping her steady. He still had a grip on his bow, though the slight push of metal against her leg faded into insignificance compared to the rush of heat that burnt through Darcy as she became aware of just how solid and warm and _wow_ the body pressed against her was.

It was so quiet, Darcy felt as though her catching breath was echoing through the night air. And even though she was absolutely stable, Clint hadn't loosened his hold. "You ok?" he asked in a very low voice.

"Pretty sure it's just my pride that got busted," Darcy mumbled in reply. Her hair was pressed against his cheek and as he'd spoken, she'd felt his breath skitter over her jaw and tease at her neck. Darcy turned her head, arching her neck away from the barrier of the jacket she wore and she knew she wasn't imagining the flex of his fingers pressing into her hips. The rise and fall of his chest was a steady movement behind her as Darcy closed her eyes, shutting out any other sensation. She felt him shift so the edge of his jaw was pressed just beneath her ear before he began grazing his cheek downwards. Though Clint had shaved for the wedding, that had been many hours ago and the faintest hint of stubble rubbed against her skin while Clint exhaled slowly; his mouth barely an inch from the curve of her throat. The warm rush of air burst across her cool skin, setting her nerve endings on fire and an unmissable shudder ran down her body. He paused at the nape of her neck, the curve of his chin moving backwards and with the closeness of his breath, Darcy knew his lips were a fraction away from kissing her.

And that was exactly when her phone started beeping loudly.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Darcy said is a breathy groan. Clint paused, but as the phone kept beeping, he loosened his hold on Darcy – if not releasing her entirely – and Darcy was able to wriggle her hand into the jacket pocket to retrieve her handset. She flicked her passcode in with a forceful jab, squinting at the suddenly brightness of the backlit screen.

Clint was still close enough to look over Darcy's shoulder. "Odd time of the night to have set your alarm for, Darce."

"It's not an alarm." She huffed, tapping the blinking app to expand it over the screen. A simple image popped up of a grid pattern with one steady purple dot and one blinking red dot a short distance apart. "I'm not exactly terrible with handheld devices but so many other people are. And sometimes, y'know, I get bored and have a look to see if someone had some decent tunes stored on their unprotected handsets. So I might have a few apps to help me with this. And I might've activated a few when we started on this little adventure. You have your stalking methods and I have mine." Darcy turned herself around, holding up the phone so Clint could see the screen more clearly. "Someone nearby forgot to turn off their Bluetooth."

Even with her shifting position, Clint hadn't entirely removed his hands, though they now curved around to cup Darcy closer to her ribs. He looked down at the screen, a slight crease in his brow. "Nice job. But now we know where this guy is, maybe you should..."

"Nope," Darcy cut him off. "This damsel is not getting kicked off at half-time because I'm not in distress and you promised I could shoot your bow later." She squirmed to kick off her broken shoe, plus the good one, set her shoulders and jutted up her chin as if daring him to argue.

Clint didn't argue. He simply dragged his fingers around her ribs slowly before he carefully buttoned up the front of his jacket with his left hand, bow still gripped in his right. Darcy's gaze flickered down, then back up, trying to pick up some cue from his unreadable expression. "Fine," Clint finally said as he slipped the top button into place. "Just don't undo my jacket until we're finished."

"I know... I know... Kevlar protection," Darcy said with a sigh.

"Yes and no. Mostly to keep the distraction to a minimum." And with that, Clint finally let the jacket lapels slide from his grip. And for a moment, Darcy had to struggle to keep herself from ripping the jacket back open and throwing herself upon him. Luckily Clint took a step back first. "I've got you covered. You and your iPhone – lead the way."

Darcy turned slowly, studying at the screen as she began to move. Even though the path was designed to look rustic, it was in reality fairly smooth (random shoe-busting potholes aside) and Darcy could walk in her stockinged feet with comparative ease. She focused on the blinking red dot; the app was designed to reflect distance to make it easier to get into better range of the other device. _And bingo_. Whoever was out there had left Wi-Fi on, so Darcy's less-than-legal apps were doing their triangulating business and the red dot was getting closer.

Without looking, Darcy knew Clint was shadowing her closely. He hadn't drawn an arrow yet, but there was a tension to his body that had been absent when they'd started this trek. He was alert and ready and while Darcy had a tinge of apprehension about what they were walking into, the knowledge that Clint aka Hawkeye was by her side smooshed her fears into a microscopic amount.

A couple of minutes later, Darcy directed them off the path into the forest where the twigs and forest debris and god-knows-what-else on the ground made walking nearly barefoot a lot less pleasant. But her dots were nearly on top of each so Darcy knew they were close. After she whispered the update, Clint carefully moved in front, taking the lead. The trees were spaced wide enough for them to travel in a straight line, though lights from the path rapidly sunk away and Darcy's night vision was forced to make do with the faint moonlight that broke through the treetops. Clint seemed unaffected by the darkness, his shadowy movements still fluid and confident. _Damn ninja_ Darcy mentally grouched, not helped when a particularly sharp stone poked her little toe. However she only had to stumble a few more yards before they reached a small clearing. A pair of rusty gun racks made Darcy assume the space was some kind of old hunting spot, which did nothing to make it less creepy. Ninja Clint however extended his hand backwards, without looking, to touch Darcy on the arm and silently asking her to stay still. The urge to turn on her torch app making her fingers itch, Darcy could only just see well enough to watch Clint drift a few yards away as he circled the edge of the clearing.

"You know," Darcy stage whispered, though her voice seemed much louder in the still night air. "If this was a movie, this is totally the moment we'd get ambushed." Silence was the response until Clint skulked his way back to her.

"Well?" she was nearly bouncing on her balls of her feet, the tension starting to get to her. Clint stopped in front of her and casually nodded down to Darcy's phone, which she had gripped tightly in her hand.

"You can turn the light on now."

Darcy blinked. "Really? We won't be giving away our location or anything else horror-movie-victim dumb?" That did cause Clint to snort in amusement.

"Not exactly. Just turn it on and shine it up in the tree behind me." _This whole enigmatic thing- hot or not? _Darcy's didn't have time to brood on that as she flicked on the torch app, pushing it to the highest setting and angling the beam over Clint's shoulder.

About ten feet up in a wide branched oak tree, sat the bogey. The intruder that had dragged Darcy away from the wedding and wading through the forest. Also known as the noisy little red dot that had interrupted some crazy sexual tension between her and Clint. Or in other words, a kid barely past puberty with blonde lanky hair sitting timidly on a branch. He did have the camera, like she'd expected. The patches of acne, glasses and tartan blanket around his shoulders... not exactly paparrazi-ish.

"A little young to be starting a career in celebrity stalking?" Darcy yelled up at the tree. Her phone produced some pretty good wattage and she could see the kid gulp nervously.

"N...n...no ma'am," came a shaking voice in reply. "I'm not stalking celebrities. Just the Northern Saw-whet Owl ma'am."

Darcy felt her jaw drop slightly. _All this over a mother-freaking bird watcher._ Clint had a hint of a smirk on his lips. He winked at Darcy before turning around and crossing his arms over his chest. "You want to get out of the tree?" Clint's tone was much deadlier than the situation needed and the kid's face turned to ash. As the junior bird watcher scrambled to gather his things, Clint didn't let up the glare. Which made Darcy want to giggle. Evil-Darcy had to admit that terrorising the kid did make her feel a bit better about the wild goose chase. But not-evil-Darcy felt a little bad. Not only was the kid moving so fast out of the tree, she was a little scared he might fall and break something, but if Darcy was really honest; the kid had done her a huge favour. She and Clint might've just kept making small talk at the wedding table and then gone their separate ways when the party ended. After all this though, she was pretty sure there was something there. Something she might've missed out on. So after it all tallied up, she probably owed the kid a cookie.

"While the alpha male posing is cute and all," Darcy said as she sidled up beside Clint, going on tiptoes to whisper near his ear. "I think you've managed to give Mr I Heart Owls there enough nightmares for one evening. Pretty sure he's learnt his lesson." There was a faint twitch to Clint's jaw. Darcy suspected it was another laughter suppression.

"20 more seconds," he bartered.

"10 seconds."

"15."

"Fine. Then you have to be nice," Darcy looked back towards the kid, who in the meantime she had mentally christened Hooter. Hooter had slid from the tree and now stood awkwardly, his large DSL camera in hand and his glasses gawkily positioned on his nose. Darcy mentally counted to fifteen before taking a few steps towards him. Clint stood behind her, so she couldn't see if he'd fully stopped the "I'm going to bust your head" body language. Hooter however hadn't peed his pants yet, so Darcy decided the situation was as good as she was going to get.

"Look, kid, maybe you don't know. But this place," Darcy waved her hand around them. "Not public property, you know?" Hooter gulped again and nodded.

"I... I know ma'am. I mean, the housekeeper told me there was something on and I couldn't come tonight. Though normally it's ok. I mean, I help record the birds and let them know. For conservation. But the Northern Saw-whet Owl is my favourite and I've been trying to photograph one and just keep missing it and school starts soon and..." Hooter trailed off. Darcy couldn't help but have some sympathy for him. She'd been known for verbal incontinence now and again.

"Tell you what. Go straight home. Do not pass the house. Do not pass the gardens. Do not pass Go. And the big guy back there and I won't tell the owners about this. Ok?" Hooter nodded, his Bieber-ish hair bobbing wildly. "Good." Darcy smiled. So she didn't want to be the girl who emotional traumatised the kid for life. Good cop was kinda more her style.

While Hooter straightened himself out, Darcy glanced over her shoulder. Clint had moved a few yards away, his back to them and his voice too low to hear, though obviously he was updating Stark and the security team on the non-threat. Darcy was in the middle of appreciating the view of Clint from behind when a flash of brown above them caught her eye. Snapping her gaze up, there was a rush of wings as an owl darted across the clearing. Hooter had raised his camera quickly, trying to angle the lens and flash, but the bird was too quick. "Sorry kid..." Darcy trailed off when one, two... then half a dozen blurs of feathers and fur burst around the clearing. Squirrels darted down trunks and ran into the forest. The brush around the trees rattled and shaked as a scurry of rodents also bolted away. The quiet was broken by the rustle of little feet and filled with hoots and squeaks. Hooter looked torn between trying to capture it on film and running for his life. Clint had spun, bow loaded and body tense, looking for the threat. And then it was silent. Way too silent.

Darcy turned slowly on the spot. "I sooooooo don't have a good feeling about this..." she whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

It was as if a dozen bombs had exploded beneath the ground. For a split second, Darcy felt the shudder vibrate up the soles of her feet before the hard packed earth blasted outwards. The force rammed her straight into the tree Hooter had crawled down from; bark and hard wood collided with her shoulders and back and then she ricocheted flat on the ground and even with a Kevlar lined jacket on..._ holy fuck... it hurt_. But survival mode kicked in. She forced herself to move, to get to her knees. It was hard: her ears were ringing and the impact made Darcy's head swim. She could barely hear the soft noise of pain from close by. Craning her head, through her double vision she saw Hooter had been knocked into the tree beside her. He was moving, trying to sit up. _Alive. Good. But Clint. Is he... _

Darcy shook her head, trying to clear her senses. Then like another shock to her system, she realised it wasn't just a buzz from the explosion in her ears. The clearing had become a cacophony of noise. With a blink, Darcy tried to filter her vision through the darkness and the settling cloud of dust. _Clint... is he ok..._ she leant to one side, trying to see past the swarming mass of bodies_... oh my god. _Adrenaline finally kicked in, clearing her head, and Darcy realised exactly what she was looking at. A dozen humanoid-type creatures had literally burst their way out of the ground. And only a foot or so in front of her, Darcy could see another of the things crawling out of the tunnel the blasts had created. It was all wiry legs and big eyes; apart from having yellow skin and walking upright, the thing was a dead ringer for Gollum from those Lord of the Rings movies she'd watched in her teenage years. It didn't look super strong, but was just one of another wave popping up from the ground. The first influx had swarmed together on the other side of the clearing, though the sight of a creature falling backwards with an arrow in its chest sent a burst of relief through Darcy. Clint was alive.

She wanted to yell his name, let him know she was ok, but there was no time. Darcy knew Clint was at the centre of an ambush. A bumpy mass of Gollum-ey things were between them. Darcy's flight instinct was freaking out; her heart was pounding and it was getting hard to breathe. Some part of her brain still believed driving a van into the middle of a desert storm or anything equally stupidly hazardous was something _you got the damn hell away from_. But something else mattered more than the fact this whole disaster might get her killed: Clint was in danger and she had to help him.

However a pair of the creatures had a different idea. As soon as they saw Darcy struggle to her feet, they skittered over and in tandem grabbed her by the arms and shoved her back down. "Oww," Darcy yelled, partly indignant but partly from her already tender body connecting with the stupid tree again. And for a moment she cursed all those years she could've been taking tae kwon do classes to develop some black belt skills, because these things definitely weren't pushovers.

"_Darcy, run_." Clint's yell was muffled, but Darcy realised he must've heard her cry out. And again a surge of adrenaline ran through her and ninja-skills-or-no-ninja skills, her fight instinct kicked into serious mode. She reached into the jacket pockets, instinctively looking for her taser before remembering that it had been banned from the wedding celebrations. Something about drinking and Darcy and impulse control. But Darcy didn't have time to mentally bitch about that; she'd just have to make do. Her fingers curled around her phone. Had Clint been able to call in the attack on his earpiece? It had happened so fast... Darcy cautiously drew the handset out. Best bet right now was to make sure the cavalry was on the way.

"What are you doing human..." _Damn_. The creature blinked and snatched towards the phone. Darcy realised that big bug eyes equalled stupidly good night vision. Any chance to send an SOS was gone, so Darcy gripped the phone and instead swung it at the thing's head. It connected with a satisfying thunk and the creature stumbled back. She aimed her fist at the other one, but it was prepared for her and dodged.

"Stay down human," the thing said in a raspy voice. "The Moloids only want the Avenger."

Darcy swung her fist again, though all she achieved was making the Moloid jump back out of her reach. "Yeah, well... I don't negotiate with anything that refers to itself in the third person." The thing shuffled a few steps away, well out of her reach. Darcy was about to get up and try to reach Clint again when she saw a pair of the creatures... the Moloids... break off from the pack and begin to move towards them. And these ones had crude but nasty looking clubs in their hands.

There was a whimper from Hooter, who Darcy realised was still huddled almost right next to her. The kid looked terrified. He'd curled into a ball and was unlikely to put up any resistance if one of the Moloids starting beating on him. Darcy stared back across the clearing and her heart sunk even further. Clint was fighting, hard, but the Moloids were just too many. A third wave had come through, pressing on him in a swarm and making his arrows useless in the close combat. In mass they kept dragging Clint down to the forest floor. He'd get up – and was clearly no slouch in the hand-to-hand fighting department - but each time they got him a little closer to one of the holes they'd burrowed out of and god only knew what was waiting for him underground.

_Think Darcy... think! _She had maybe a couple of seconds before the club wielding Moloids were on top of her and Hooter. She needed something bigger than a cell phone to defend them with. And then, her eyes settled on the heavy DSLR still clutched in Hooter's hands. And the large flash unit attached on top.

Maybe Darcy hadn't taken karate lessons in her occasionally misspent youth, but she'd sure as hell learnt to make fake IDs. She'd had to use her phone camera to make one for Thor back in New Mexico but she'd handled plenty of real cameras in her time. And she knew what it was like to have a flash go off in her eyes.

"Sorry kid," Darcy felt she should apologise as she reached and snatched the camera from Hooter's grip. He looked startled but didn't resist, for which Darcy mentally added another cookie to the tally she already owed him. The Moloids snarled and rushed forward, clubs raised, but Darcy was at her best with an electronic device in her hands and after just a few quick flicks of her fingers, she spun the camera around and triggered the flash.

The light burst out at full power, just as the Moloids were above Darcy. They shrieked, dropping their clubs as they fell to the ground, clutching at their eyes. "Hah!" Darcy yelled in triumph. That had worked far better than she'd hoped. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the protest of pain from her ribs and aimed the camera at the other Moloid who'd shoved her earlier. It turned, missing the direct hit of the flash but thankfully still scuttled back with a hiss. Finger resting on the button and her eye on the enemy, Darcy took only a second to nudge one of the fallen clubs towards Hooter with her foot. "If one gets near, hit it," she shouted while beginning to dart at full speed across the clearing towards Clint. The Moloids had knocked him to the earth again, right beside a tunnel entrance, and were bunched around; their dozens of hands pushing and dragging him towards the hole. Darcy knew there was no more time, so she simply braced her shoulder and barged straight into the distracted huddle of Moloids, raised the camera and set off the flash.

Some of the Moloids threw up their spindly hands in time, but it wasn't enough to shield their enlarged eyes entirely from the blasts of light. They hissed and recoiled. Clint seized the opportunity, shaking off their grips and launching to his feet in one quick motion. Even as some of the hardier Moloids were reaching for Darcy and snatching at the camera, Clint was there. He elbowed the nearest Moloid in the head while his other arm curved around Darcy's waist and spun her out of the fray. Clint kept his grip on Darcy, pulling her to his side, and in the couple of seconds she'd bought them, he backed the both of them up until they reached the edge of the clearing.

'Nice photography skills," Clint murmured in Darcy's ear.

"You know it," she replied. And Darcy was sure Clint smiled before he released her and turned, landing a hit on the first of the Moloid chasing after them. Darcy dodged another set of grubby Moloid nails reaching out towards her and set off the flash. The bastards flinched back and Clint moved in front of Darcy, shielding her body with his.

"They're going to keep coming," he said, even as another round of Moloid heads started popping up from the holes. "You have to grab the kid and run."

"I'm not leaving you," she replied firmly.

"Darce..."

"No!" Darcy was a second away from stamping her foot at him.

"Darce," Clint repeated before stopping, his head tilting upwards for a moment. Then he simply reached behind and took Darcy by the hand. "Never mind. Cavalry is here."

And just like that Thor and Iron Man, with Steve and Natasha riding shotgun, came crashing down from the sky. Only Tony with his automated suit had apparently had time to change. Still in his wedding ensemble, Thor swung Mjolnir and a cluster of Moloids fell like bowling pins. Darcy barely had time to register that Natasha wasn't even slightly hindered by the bridesmaid dress when a Moloid body went sailing past Darcy's head, missing by only a couple of inches. "Thor must be way angry... he normally has better aim..." Darcy was cut off when Clint picked her up and pressed her into the nearest tree with his arms raised to shield her head and his body curved around so he covered her entirely. Darcy felt Clint might be overreacting just a little but then it became total chaos as more Asgardian wedding guests came bursting out of the forest. They rushed past Clint and Darcy and threw themselves into the fray. There was a soft thump as another detached Moloid limb rebounded against Clint's body and Darcy was then more than a little glad to have him there.

The noise of Asgardian battle cries en masse was insane. But after a few moments, Darcy barely registered the sound. Her head was nuzzled against Clint's chest; the hard lines of his body grazed against hers, though he was being carefully not to press against her injuries. But being this close again... Darcy still tingled from the adrenaline flooding her system and all she could feel and smell and notice was him, from the brush of his pants against her stockinged legs to the cool press of his cotton shirt beneath her cheek. It almost made her giddy. Or maybe shock was setting in. Meh. She didn't care either way.

"Not interrupting anything are we?" came a hollow, synthesised voice. Darcy started, snapping out of her reverie as Iron Man popped up next to them. The helmet flipped up and Tony grinned from inside the suit. "Thought you'd want to know we've cleared out the rat nest for you."

Steve and Thor also appeared, their wedding outfits a little mussed up but otherwise unscathed. "Darcy, are you injured?" asked Thor, his tone urgent. Clint took a step back, which didn't exactly thrill Darcy, but Thor had clearly wanted to see for himself, holding Darcy at arm's length as he examined her.

"I'm fine," Darcy said, trying to shoo Thor away. "Hooter... I mean, the kid who was with us. He ok?"

Steve nodded. "Natasha is with him. She's got security on the way with some quad bikes. They're going to take him home." Seeming reassured that everything was secure, he jerked his thumb towards the battlegrounds. "I'll get back in there and keep an eye on the cleanup."

Darcy smiled at Steve before he darted away, relief flooding through her that Hooter was safe before she looked back at Tony. "Don't be too harsh on the kid for his little trespassing thing. Kid had some toys which saved our butts out there."

Tony looked about to reply, when a chunk of the Asgardians swarmed over.

"What an excellent fight, mighty Thor!" one exclaimed. He waved the ale mug he'd brought along for emphasis. "To have battle on your wedding day is a portent sign of the many victories ahead in your marriage."

"Aye brother," Thor said cheerfully. "It was kind of the mole creatures to bless my wedding with such good fortune." At which a cheer rose up from the crown. "We must return to where my bride waits and celebrate our victory with all." Another cheer.

"C'mon," Tony said, snapping down his visor and extending his arms towards Clint and Darcy. "I'll give you crazy kids a lift. Looks like you both could use a drink right about now."


	5. Chapter 5

Despite her reasonably long association with Thor, Darcy had never actually had the opportunity to go flying with a superhero. So hitching a ride with Iron Man sounded like a great idea... until the point when the metal arm actually hooked around her and pain vibrated across her chest. Darcy was going to grin and bear it, if it meant she got out of the stupid forest quicker; Clint however was having none of it.

"Let's try something else," Clint said as he shrugged his bow over his shoulder. As if she weighed nothing, Clint crouched and scooped up Darcy in his arms. He cradled her carefully, making sure she was secure.

"This works for me," Darcy murmured, looking up at Clint with a smile. He just winked before glancing back at Tony.

"We're all clenched up over here."

"Careful buddy. Don't steal my lines," echoed the Iron Man voice as Tony got a grip on Clint and elevated them at a moderate speed above the forest tree line. What had taken Darcy and Clint nearly an hour by foot, Tony Stark and his rocket fuel skimmed over in just a few minutes. Even so - by the time the trio landed, the wedding celebrations had already launched back into full swing. Thor had been detained slightly by his bride, who released her death grip on his bicep when she saw Darcy and the others return.

"Oh thank god you're ok," Jane cried, her wedding skirt fluttering as she ran over to grip Darcy in a hug.

"Owww... we're fine... and see, we returned your groom intact." Darcy grimaced but returned Jane's hug, relieved that she didn't seem too upset at having her wedding day interrupted by some subterranean party crashers. Jane, however, didn't miss Darcy's noise of pain and in a few seconds Darcy was forced onto a chair and Jane had rounded up Bruce Banner and Pepper with a first aid kid.

Doctor Banner, who quickly suggested Darcy call him by his first name, examined Darcy closely. Clint had taken a seat beside them while Pepper cleaned up his surface wounds with antiseptic. Bruce disclosed with a rueful expression that he wasn't a medical doctor but his time treating people made him fairly sure Darcy had some bruising around her ribs and shoulder blades but luckily no broken bones.

"So I'm not going to have to miss out on the rest of the party?" Darcy smiled as he handed her a couple of painkillers.

"Just take it easy," replied Bruce. "Maybe don't dance with any of those guys," he added with a bob of his head towards Thor's Asgardian friends, who were well into the arms-around-each-others-shoulders phase of the night.

Darcy gave a mock salute. "As the doctor orders." Bruce just smiled before nodding to Clint and returning to his table. Darcy noticed Bruce picked up a notepad and pen and began scribbling as he sat down. Seemed scientific inspiration had no respect for timing and fun.

With a frown, Pepper dabbed at the last of Clint's scrapes before turning her attention to Darcy. "I am so, so sorry this happened," said Pepper as she began disinfecting a small cut on Darcy's temple. "Trust me; first thing tomorrow I'll be expanding all Stark Industry security observations to at least twenty feet below ground."

"Let's say thirty, just to be safe," interjected Tony, who'd returned in a fresh suit and appeared none the worse for having been in a battle ten minutes earlier. He dropped a kiss on Pepper's head and produced glasses of champagne for Darcy and Clint.

"And maybe next time, we'll keep civilians out of recon expeditions. Just to be safe," Clint said as he accepted the drink, though both his tone and the look he gave Tony were a little on the cold side. Darcy leant over and gave Clint a reprimanding poke on the shoulder.

"Hey, civilian here totally helped save the day," she snarked. "I don't think any security goons could've done better."

"Couldn't agree more," said Tony. "But..." he added as Clint's frown deepened. "Maybe we'll keep your adventuring a little more high heel friendly in the future."

"You both are totally trying to diminish my badass-ness," Darcy muttered, folding her arms with a huff. Pepper offered a rueful smile while she packed up the first aid kit.

"No Miss Lewis. I actually think your perfectly fine ass has some interesting potential. However from the glare our Hawk is giving me, I also don't think he's quite finished playing bodyguard to your Whitney Houston yet."

"OK, all patched up over here," said Pepper brightly, standing with a flourish and breaking the tension that had passed between Tony and Clint

"Excellent. Just in time," Tony looked fairly self-satisfied as the lighting around them dimmed and rows of fairy lights and candles flickered on. A slow romantic melody filled the air and with only minor grumbles the rowdier guests began to settle down. "I believe Jane was quite firm about getting some peaceful dancing time with her husband after the grooms traditions were wound up." Tony bowed slightly and extended his hand towards Pepper. "May I have this dance?" Taking his hand, Pepper smiled towards to Clint and Darcy before Tony led her away. Darcy swore she heard Pepper mutter something to her partner about stupid plans backfiring, though Pepper's slightly cross expression did melt away as Tony twirled her into a graceful spin.

More pairs began drifting onto the dance floor and Darcy let her eyes wander across the beautiful scene; Thor and Jane were pressed close together and they looked every part the blissfully happy married couple. And somehow Sif had disengaged Bruce from his scribbling; they were dancing an easy waltz and both seemed to be enjoying themselves. Other couples were gliding around in easy embraces: Jane's brother and his boyfriend, so adorable; Thor's parents, dignified but so clearly in love. It was romantic and distracting but Darcy wasn't one to let things go quite so easily.

"So," she started, turning her attention towards Clint. "Want to tell me what you and Tony were alpha'ing about before?"

"Not really," Clint was avoiding looking at her, which made Darcy's spidey senses tingle even more.

"I wasn't going for a rhetorical question there. Something's up. Spill."

Clint sighed before turning in his chair to face Darcy fully. She shifted to meet him, their knees nearly touching. His expression was serious.

"What're your thoughts on Tony sending you with me to investigate a security breach? Especially when his surveillance system couldn't identify the target."

Darcy gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "Look, I don't know Tony Stark as well as the rest of you, but seems like the choices he makes can be a bit... erratic."

Clint shook his head. "Stark has a reason for everything he does."

"Yeah, well, maybe he did have a reason. Like, maybe he thought you were bored and sent you off to get your ninja on. And I was there for... moral support?" Darcy was struggling to find a logical reason for why she'd been there in the forest. After having seen Clint in close up action, it made even less sense. But Tony had nearly shoved her and Clint off on their little adventure. Just the two of them. And really... could Hooter have been wandering around without Stark and his array of computer miracles not figuring it out?

"There are other things, Darce," Clint said, his jaw tense as he leant forward, elbows on his knees.

"Shush," Darcy held up her hand, frowning as she thought the whole thing over.

"No, Darce..."

Her hand waved at him to be quiet. "Still shushing time." She was busy mentally poking at the theory that Clint had dropped in her lap. Along with Pepper's hushed comments about some back firing plan. So the Moloids probably were truly unexpected guests. It was only slightly reassuring that the plan hadn't been for near death experiences to be some kind of crazy aphrodisiac for her and Clint. But Mr Stark had looked pretty smug when he found them pressed up against a tree after the Moloids were dealt with... "You think Tony was playing matchmaker?"

Clint nodded in reply. "Yes." His face was blank, though his eyes were watching Darcy closely.

Darcy tilted her head, exhaling slowly. She wasn't a fan of people meddling in her life. And people like Hooter could've been seriously hurt or killed, just because Tony decided two single people needed some romantic walk in the forest and seized the opportunity. So maybe Tony needed a slap. Or two. But as Darcy looked at Clint, she knew the butterflies were still fluttering away in her stomach. This guy was amazing and she wasn't an idiot.

"Clint..." she began tentatively. His expression didn't change, but the slightly tightening around his eyes settled the matter for Darcy. So she took a deep breath before asking "Can I have this dance?"

Whatever Clint had been expecting Darcy to say, that apparently wasn't it. There was a pause while he stared at her. "Sure you're up for it?"

To prove the point, Darcy eased up onto her feet. Clint stood with her, keeping a cautious closeness until he was sure she was steady. Darcy then carefully slipped her arms out of his jacket and folded it over the back of her chair. She ran her hands down her skirt to smooth it out before lifting her chin to look up at Clint with a playful grin upon her lips.

"Babe, I have the spent the last eight months getting ready for this wedding and I am so not having some Lord of the Rings rejects ruin it. I am ready to dance until the freakin' break of dawn. But if you're needing some more recovery time..." She tilted her palms upwards and shrugged.

Clint promptly captured one of Darcy's hands in his, slowly lowering it back down. "Recovery time – not really part of my vocabulary." With calloused fingers brushing against her wrist, Clint led them both onto the dance floor. As other couples swirled slowly around them, he lifted Darcy's hand, kissing the back of it softly before guiding it up to rest upon his shoulder. His palm then settled on the back of her hip and drew them together, just close enough to touch. Darcy's unoccupied fingers sought out his and with a smile, Clint held their hands to the side as they began to dance. Relaxed and unhurried, they drifted together, feeling each other's movements until they were swaying in a slow, easy circle.

The final verse of an acoustic version of "Your Song" was playing when Tony and Pepper waltzed closed by. "Next song is for you two." Tony said lightly.

"Are you messing with my carefully designed playlist?" Darcy murmured without breaking eye contact from Clint. On some level she knew Tony had just committed a sacrilegious act, but it would take a lot more to rouse her wrath at this point.

"Just expanding it a little, Miss Lewis." And with that, Tony and Pepper disappeared from her peripheral vision in a dramatic twirling motion.

"Clint..." Darcy whispered, tilting her head to the side. "If Stark ruins this moment with some heavy metal thrash, would you unload an arrow into him for me?"

Clint nodded. "Yes Darce. Just for you."

But as the first few bars of the melody filled the room, Darcy was only forced to give the slightest roll of her eyes. "So he picked a ballad. It's still Metallica..."

"Then if this is going to be our song, I say we make the most of it." Clint's voice was low and his fingers were stroking the back of Darcy's hand and all she could do was nod, because words had suddenly escaped her. The press of his palm on her hip became a little firmer and Darcy willingly gave way. Their bodies moulded together effortlessly; Darcy reached until her fingertips grazed along the back of his neck and Clint wrapped both arms around her waist. Darcy knew he was being careful of her injuries, but as she felt the rub of the hard muscled lines of his arms against her, she knew every bone in her body could've been broken and she'd still want to be closer to him.

_And nothing else matters_...

Darcy intertwined her fingers, cupping them around his neck. Still dancing slowly, her gaze locked on his pale blue eyes, Darcy went on tiptoes and pressed into Clint's chest. His grip on her tightened, though a muscle tick in his jaw hinted at his restraint. "I don't want to hurt you."

_Trust I seek and I find in you..._

"You won't," she said simply in reply.

_All these words I don't just say... _

And then, Clint kissed her and everything else faded away. All she felt was the press of his lips and the drawn out caress of his mouth on hers. Steadily, she kissed him in return; brushing lightly over his lips and having his kiss capture her mouth intently in response. Even when the kiss gradually came to an end, their lips lingered close together until Darcy finally lowered herself down from her tiptoes.

Little by little, the world seeped back into clarity. The noise of the party, the drift of the other guests around them, Metallica still playing through the speakers; Clint gently led them back into the flow of a dance, moving them around the floor once more. Darcy lowered her arms to wrap around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. She felt him curve an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. After a little while, he spoke again. "I didn't thank you earlier. For risking yourself to help me." There was a pause as Clint angled a gentle kiss against her forehead.

Darcy peeked up through her eyelashes, her cheek still pressed against his shirt. "It was nothing. All in a day's work for the head bridesmaid."

"No..." Clint said quietly as he stared down at her. "Darce... it definitely wasn't nothing."

Darcy didn't need to say anything. She simply lifted her chin and closed her eyes as Clint's kiss captured her lips once more.

_And nothing else matters._

* * *

Song: _Nothing Else Matters _by Metallica. Blame Tony for the choice.


	6. Epilogue

It was a little after dawn when Natasha and Steve were finished with securing the site of the Moloid attack. Their wedding outfits were well coated in grime and dirt, but by the time they made it back to the reception there were only a few guests still awake to notice. Bruce, Sif and a couple of others from the party had congregated around a table; Bruce's tie was loosened, Sif's feet were propped on the table edge and all of them had coffee cups in hand.

"I'm guessing we missed the rest of the party," said Natasha in greeting as they approached the group.

"The celebrating did mostly cease when the sun appeared on the horizon," replied Sif. "But I did not wish to stop conversing and Bruce assisted by arranging for this drink that Thor is so fond of." The mug Sif was holding looked full of a strong, black coffee and Natasha briefly wondered if she'd be able to wrestle the Asgardian for it.

Bruce cleared his throat. "Pepper only brought them out a little while ago. There might be some left in the kitchen."

Natasha nodded her thanks and glanced towards Steve. "Coming Capt'n?"

Steve shook his head in reply. "Thank you but no. Time for me to hit the hay."

"'Hit the hay'?" queried Sif with a raised eyebrow. "Is this one final tradition we must partake in?"

Leaving Steve and Bruce to explain, Natasha extracted herself and headed towards the back of the main house on the estate where most of the guests were staying for a night or two. She'd memorised the layout weeks ago and could mentally map the quickest route to the smaller domestic kitchen where she assumed Pepper would be. Being a Stark house, any route involved cutting across more than a few rooms and hallways.

Natasha had to detour around a few of the wedding guests who hadn't quite made it to their designated beds and chosen to crash on the floor instead. She was passing through one of the ornate entertaining rooms when she found Clint and Darcy, the pair spread out across one of the formal high-backed couches. Darcy had fallen asleep on her side, with her head pillowed by Clint's lap. He was sleeping sitting upright; a position Natasha had seen him in several times before when on mission. His hand was resting near Darcy's cheek, a few tendrils of her dark curls wrapped around his fingers as if he'd drifted off while stroking her hair.

As quietly as Natasha was moving, she wasn't surprised when Clint opened his eyes. The rest of his body remained perfectly still and Darcy didn't even stir.

"Everything go ok?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Natasha nodded. "Cap' and I made sure the tunnels were fully collapsed. No underground entry here anymore."

Clint gave the briefest nod of his head in reply. "Thanks. Go get some rest Nat."

"Will do." Natasha slipped away as Clint fell back into his light doze with Darcy still sleeping peacefully by his side.

* * *

Pepper was just pouring a fresh cup of brewed coffee and handed it straight to Natasha when she entered through the kitchen door. "Nice timing," Pepper said in greeting. Her voice was lowered, in that quiet tone people adopt when the rest of the house is asleep.

"I figured coffee pot number two was due around now," Natasha murmured in reply, wrapping her fingers around the mug as she slid onto a wooden barstool, elbows propped up behind her on the kitchen's breakfast bar. "Is Tony waiting on his caffeine fix?"

After filling another mug, Pepper took a seat beside her. "He's still working on a tankard of the Asgardian ale and is determined to finish it. I'll give him another thirty minutes." Natasha smiled lightly as she took a mouthful of coffee. Pepper blew on her own hot cup before continuing. "I think Tony is planning on taking full credit for masterminding the budding romance between Clint and Darcy." Her tone was casual, but Natasha knew that Pepper was probing. She'd have been an idiot if she'd assumed anything got past Ms Potts.

"Stark can credit himself with whatever makes him happy,"

"Mmm hmm. It was interesting though. I'd spoken to Thor about the security for Jane in the lead up to the wedding. I knew you were already a bridesmaid at Thor's request, to ensure Jane had a bodyguard close by. Thor also mentioned that they'd added an extra security detail; secret even from Jane and Darcy. A certain long sighted archer who kept an eye on all the trips to the bridal shops and the cake tastings and so on." There was a moment of silence while both women sipped their drinks. "And..." continued Pepper. "I know wasn't Tony who suggested that idea to Thor."

Natasha slid off her stool and went for the pot of coffee. With her refilled mug, she leant against the counter and remained impassive against Pepper's penetrating stare. "The Avengers have enemies," replied Natasha. "I wanted backup and Clint is the best at stealthy surveillance. Plus Darcy was clearly going to be a handful. I was late to the first wedding meeting and she was not happy about that. As soon as the bride-to-be was out of the room, Darcy told me quite clearly that this was about Jane's big day and that I had better show some respect for my 'sacred bridesmaid duties'. Otherwise, she didn't care what superpowers I might or might not have and how painful it'd be for her later; she'd come after me with her god levelling Taser."

Another loaded pause passed between them. "And Darcy never realised Clint was there, watching over them?"

"No."

A wry smile appeared on Pepper face. "Do you think she's going to be bothered when she finds out? Not every girl appreciates her new beau having stalked her first."

"Was Thor bothered when he learnt that Coulson almost ordered Barton to shoot him in New Mexico? When Clint was on the job, he saw Darcy as a job. Nothing more."

"Barton definitely sees much more than a job now," interrupted Tony from the doorway. "I'm just amazed they're asleep on the couch and not making use of one of the ridiculously bouncy mattresses in the guest bedrooms."

"Bruised ribs can hinder even the most well laid seduction plans." Pepper said lightly.

Tony leaned against the door frame, arms folded over his chest. "Just so we're clear, I definitely don't have any bruising at the moment."

Natasha placed her empty mug in the sink. "And that's my cue to go."

* * *

Before she made use of one of those oversized but admittedly comfortable beds of Stark, Natasha paused in the hallway to look in on Clint and Darcy. The rise and fall of Clint chest showed he was still in a light sleep. Not that he would have doubted Natasha's report that the grounds were secure, but once Barton's protective mode was triggered, it was slow to ease off. When they'd started working together it had annoyed Natasha to no end, knowing Clint would be half awake just to watch over her. But Darcy; she'd just nestled her head against his thigh and gotten herself comfortable.

For all her skills at manipulation, this was the first time Natasha has gotten involved in Clint's love life. But from the moment Darcy had threatened her with a Taser, Natasha knew she was the one. The one who could challenge Barton but bend to meet him. The one who would love him for exactly who he was and could be loved in return for her loyalty, bravery and determination.

So yes, she'd arranged for Clint to have plenty of time to observe Darcy, the girl who later promised the dressmaker a tax audit if the wedding veil wasn't exactly right. The girl who cried when Jane practised her wedding vows. Clint tended to say he saw better from a distance and Natasha wanted to make sure he saw Darcy quite clearly before the wedding was over.

Maybe the actual details hadn't gone exactly as Natasha had expected, but the end result was right on target.


End file.
